World Wildlife Fund and Azamara - together working to protect oceans

[screen-gem]

@BBMacLaird

Bonnie,

Sorry to bring this up again. It's now April. The first quarter of the year is behind us, yet the WWF webpage continues to languish in the past. It still lists the 2018 WWF speakers, with no sign of anything planned for this year. I was pleased to see that the joint WWF-Azamara program is still featured in the just-released 2020 Destination Guide. On Page 109, the AZ marketeers direct customers to keep an eye out for the WWF Speakers on board, as well as special tours with WWF experts, with impressive verbiage and nice glossy photographs.  But it's all sizzle, and no steak.  Hmm, that's actually an inappropriate analogy, since steak come from cows, and cows produce methane, a greenhouse gas which is not good for the planet.  But I'm sure you get my point.

 

It seems that this topic has not acquired sufficient attention by your "inside manager" and  "manager-of-the-inside-manager". Perhaps it's time to escalate to the C-suite?  The partnership was announced with great fanfare in 2016, yet seems to have fallen by the wayside.  Frankly, I think it's an embarrassment to still have last year's information published on the website with no further commitment indicated. If nothing else, perhaps your webmaster/mistress will remove the 2018 dates, and replace them with a non-committal placeholder like "2019 Program coming soon", or "WWF Program in dry dock, will be sailing again later this year".

 

Thanks.

[screen-gem]

On 3/17/2019 at 9:00 PM, screen-gem said:

  On 2/19/2019 at 3:34 PM, BBMacLaird said:

AFAIK the WWF program is as strong as ever! I've just sent an email to our inside manager to see when the 2019 onboard speakers will be listed on our website. Thanks for pointing out that they are all 2018!

 

On 3/17/2019 at 9:00 PM, screen-gem said:

Bonnie,

Could you poke your "inside manager", or perhaps the "manager--of-the-inside-manager", and point out that the WWF webpage still lists the 2018 speakers. It has not been updated with any 2019 speakers, if in fact there are any.  Perhaps the program has been put on hiatus.

Thanks.

@BBMacLaird

Bonnie - Happy May Day!

2019 is now a third over, but the WWF page still lists last year's speakers.  With no updates since last fall, it looks like the program has been abandoned. Disinterest from customers?  IT department too busy to update the website?? Fading commitment in the CoC suite???

 

Could you inquire again (not holding my breath!).

Thanks.

 

[excitedofharpenden]

It's still there. I saw a Twitter or Facebook page which I now can't find with the guy from WWF that heads it up for Azamara. I remembered him as I had dinner with him on the cruise that introduced the program.  I picked this off Twitter which seems to confirm it still happens. Or at least it did in February:

 

http://australia.etbtravelnews.global/376621/aussie-turtle-expert-joins-azamara-wwf-speaker-series/

 

Phil 

Edited May 1, 2019 by excitedofharpenden

[screen-gem]

Thanks Phil. That's encouraging.  But there's zero information on the Azamara website about any 2019 Speakers. 

If the program were on-going, you'd think they'd want to market it as a unique value-add.

[uktog]

4 hours ago, screen-gem said:

Thanks Phil. That's encouraging.  But there's zero information on the Azamara website about any 2019 Speakers. 

If the program were on-going, you'd think they'd want to market it as a unique value-add.

None of the speaker information has been updated.  Its frustrating as you want to know are there likely to be speakers you want to listen to or are you going to have to pack extra books.

[BBMacLaird]

6 hours ago, screen-gem said:

Thanks Phil. That's encouraging.  But there's zero information on the Azamara website about any 2019 Speakers. 

If the program were on-going, you'd think they'd want to market it as a unique value-add.

I know our relationship with WWF still exists, is valued, and continues to grow. 

I apologize on behalf of our web gurus for not updating the 2019 information on the website. I have not asked them why, but will guess it’s because they’ve been on hard deadlines to get the new 2021-2022 itineraries up and programmed ready to book. That is always a big behind-the-scenes push. Once they come up for air, I’ll keep after them for the WWF speaker schedule.

[screen-gem]

4 minutes ago, BBMacLaird said:

Once they come up for air, I’ll keep after them for the WWF speaker schedule.

 

Is there a 2019 schedule?  If it exists, perhaps you can post it here. That will take the pressure off your web gurus (who frankly, have had 4 months to get to it), and get the information out to your most valued clientele in a timely manner.

[screen-gem]

On 5/1/2019 at 9:26 PM, BBMacLaird said:

I know our relationship with WWF still exists, is valued, and continues to grow. 

I apologize on behalf of our web gurus for not updating the 2019 information on the website. I have not asked them why, but will guess it’s because they’ve been on hard deadlines to get the new 2021-2022 itineraries up and programmed ready to book. That is always a big behind-the-scenes push. Once they come up for air, I’ll keep after them for the WWF speaker schedule.

 

@BBMacLaird

Bonnie,

☀️Happy Summer☀️!   With the Summer Solstice just passed, we are now officially into the summer sailing season.

I apologize for bringing this up again, but 2019 is now almost half over and your WWF page still lists last year's speakers.  With no updates since last fall, it really looks like the program has been abandoned. Perhaps your colleagues in Miami  decided to quietly shut it down, as they did with Azamara's much loved bicycle tours?  I certainly hope not, but that's what the evidence suggests.

 

Last month, you indicated that the reason for the stale website was that the web gurus had all been busy. Seven weeks later, I'm not sure that excuse holds much water. They've found time to post all sorts of 'general interest' content, such as "Mediterranean Movie Magic" and "Five Reasons Why Golf Cruises Make the Best Vacations".  If the WWF programme is still alive and well, surely they can find some time to post the Speaker schedule for the rest of the year, if it exists.

 

On the other hand, if there are no Speakers planned, I think it would be best to update the WWF webpage accordingly and indicate that the program is on hiatus. Otherwise, some might conclude that Azamara is simply indulging in some corporate greenwashing. I'm sure that's not the case, but perceptions have a funny way of becoming reality.

 

I know your hands are tied in getting the website updated. You simply don't have enough starch on hand to stiffen the rope on which you're pushing. However, as suggested before, perhaps you can post the WWF Speaker schedule here (if it exists) and get the information out to your CC clientele. And if there is no schedule for future speakers, tell us. We'll understand.

 

Have a great summer!

 

[BBMacLaird]

We have just announced our new WWF programming benefiting their conservation efforts in South Africa!

https://www.azamara.com/discover/world-wildlife-fund

[screen-gem]

6 hours ago, BBMacLaird said:

Hi Screen-Gem, here is an update (finally! and sorry for the delay!)

Our relationship with WWF is alive and well.

https://www.azamara.com/discover/world-wildlife-fund

 

 

Bonnie,

Thanks for the update. Glad to see the wonderful WWF partnership hasn't faded to black. There's been silence for so long, I was afraid it had been cast adrift.

 

The newly-refreshed world-wildlife-fund webpage says: "On select sailings, join a WWF speaker to learn about their conservation work and how it connects to the destinations you are visiting."  It lists three South Africa sailings with WWF speakers, but they are not until 2021.   Are there any voyages with speakers planned for 2020?  That might tempt us to return to Azamara.  (our next planned voyage is a river cruise - sadly, the AZ ships don't fit on the narrow rivers and locks in Europe:-)

 

Best wishes for Winter season⛄️❆🌨🎄.

 

 

 

[nordski]

19 minutes ago, screen-gem said:

 

Bonnie,

Thanks for the update. Glad to see the wonderful WWF partnership hasn't faded to black. There's been silence for so long, I was afraid it had been cast adrift.

 

The newly-refreshed world-wildlife-fund webpage says: "On select sailings, join a WWF speaker to learn about their conservation work and how it connects to the destinations you are visiting."  It lists three South Africa sailings with WWF speakers, but they are not until 2021.   Are there any voyages with speakers planned for 2020?  That might tempt us to return to Azamara.  (our next planned voyage is a river cruise - sadly, the AZ ships don't fit on the narrow rivers and locks in Europe:-)

 

Best wishes for Winter season⛄️❆🌨🎄.

 

 

 

Not really germane to your question about 2020, but a friend tells me that there is a WWF Speaker and Representative present on her Journey Cruise in the Caribbean this week.

[uktog]

7 hours ago, nordski said:

Not really germane to your question about 2020, but a friend tells me that there is a WWF Speaker and Representative present on her Journey Cruise in the Caribbean this week.

That’s good to hear because the speakers on the previous three cruises were so disappointing we commented on that in the feedback each cruise. I got the sense that because the accommodation offered to speakers was not as good as on other lines (they may sometimes be in the old Deck 3 ocean views) it was hard to attract speakers of the quality others can. 

[nordski]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

That’s good to hear because the speakers on the previous three cruises were so disappointing we commented on that in the feedback each cruise. I got the sense that because the accommodation offered to speakers was not as good as on other lines (they may sometimes be in the old Deck 3 ocean views) it was hard to attract speakers of the quality others can. 

You may well be correct. Perhaps some speakers are more willing to accept rather Spartan quarters if cruising in the Med.

 

CD Eric in his on board talks has  referred  to decisions about entertainment etc. being influenced by accommodation issues.

[BBMacLaird]

22 hours ago, screen-gem said:

Are there any voyages with speakers planned for 2020? 

I will ask for you.